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George Clinton Day in New Orleans

New Orleans has officially named May 5, 2013 as *‘George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic Day’, proclaimed so Sunday night by Councilwoman Susan Guidry at the House of Blues at the behest of the fabulous DJ Soul Sister who organized the whole shebang. And naturally your girl Big Red was on hand to capture the illustrious moment via video for all you poor lambs too tuckered from Jazz Festing to be there.

Clinton has been a staunchly loyal friend and supporter of New Orleans for decades, giving credit to local artists who influenced him including Lee Dorsey, Ernie K-Doe, and The Meters. One of the original architects of the funk music genre, Clinton debuted his iconic ‘Mothership Connection’ tour in New Orleans at the Municipal Auditorium in October 1976 and has visited here almost every year since then.

(more below the jump!)

DJ Soul Sister, a dear friend of mine, hit me up a few weeks ago with this brilliant idea to have the city publicly honor George Clinton during his Sunday night show. Unsure of how to go about it, I suggested to Soul Sister that she start with her city councilperson Susan Guidry. Several days later after sending her email request, she received the most beautiful and surprising reply from the councilwoman. Now if you know Susan Guidry, you’re probably trying to imagine how the very conservative lady responded. She said she’d not only be happy to proclaim an official ‘George Clinton Day’ but that she and her hubby are WWOZ members and that they “have grooved” to Soul Sister’s show for years. HA! I love the imagery here!

Say what you want but the councilwoman has shown herself to be a friend to the music and culture community. Just last year I saw with my own eyes her chasing Indians in the seventh ward on St. Joseph’s night. Never judge a book by its cover is all I’m saying...

And so Dr. Clinton, extra pumped from the red carpet love New Orleans rolled out, proceeded along with his Parliament Funkadelic band to throw down one of the most FIRE live performances I’ve ever experienced. I haven’t danced that hard since my days of clubbing at the gay boy spots in Hollywood. But that’s a story for another day.

(UPDATE: The actual proclamation created a "George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic Day" in New Orleans. The text in the first paragraph has been corrected to reflect the official name.)